SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. \u2014 Going for a walk with her dogs at Mount Royal Cemetery is something Denise Bilka does three to four times a day.<\/p>\n
She noticed right away during a walk on Sunday afternoon that a massive oak tree had fallen on her regular path.<\/p>\n
\u201cSunday after the Steelers game, I brought my two pups out, and we walked, and I saw that, and I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh!\u2019\u201d She told Channel 11\u2019s Andrew Havranek.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear why or how the tree fell.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, someone put a sign on the tree showing it has been in that spot for 245 years. The sign said it was just a seed in the year 1781.<\/p>\n
Bilka said crews didn\u2019t even know it fell until she told them on her walk Monday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the workers on Monday. They weren\u2019t even aware that it had fallen and they were really shocked too,\u201d Bilka said. \u201cIt\u2019s just terrible because it was the oldest tree here! I\u2019m sure there are other trees here that are probably close to that, but that was a beautiful tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
The uprooted tree took out part of the road in the cemetery. It\u2019s roped off with red tape that says \u2018danger.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like some of the big branches are on top of some of the headstones. Of course, some of the headstones are in the ground, so it\u2019s covering those too,\u201d Bilka said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if any of those headstones were damaged. It also does not appear any graves were damaged when the tree uprooted; A lucky break, Bilka said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope no more other trees come down like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Channel 11 left a message for the cemetery but did not hear back. There\u2019s no word on how long it will take to clean the tree up. <\/p>\n
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